TAG Heuer brings a 1960s favorite into the 21st Century.
TAG Heuer has a deep history, and a lot of it has to do with motor sports. Indeed, one might say it’s really their prime area of expertise. Their watches have long been involved with the competition zone. They use their watches to time laps, to track air times, and to keep things honest when the difference between winning and losing can be a fraction of a second.
We could go on and on about all the race and motor sports watches that TAG Heuer has made. And we DO, all the time, because we’re a watch magazine with a sister magazine that’s about cars, so that stuff is the freaking street we live on. But today we’re going to talk about one specific watch, and when we’re done you’ll be happy we did.
That one watch is the TAG Heuer Autavia. The watch was originally created in 1962, which makes it older than many of the watches TAG Heuer currently has in its catalogue. But the Autavia was so well-loved that TAG Heuer is bringing it back today, in a modern and updated form.
The Autavia’s original name (back when the brand was just ‘Heuer’) was derived from Automobile and Aviation. And all these years later, TAG Heuer still can’t keep its foot off the gas.
The TAG Heuer Autavia takes its name from two words: Automobile and Aviation. (There’s TAG Heuer for you right there, by the way.) The watch came out in the 1960s, specifically 1962. This year, 2017, marks the 55th anniversary of the Autavia watch, which may be symbolic or possibly ironic because 55 is a number traditionally associated with the American national speed limit, or at least it was once upon a time. Of course, once you’re off the roads and on the track, speed limits to the motor sports world are less of a restriction and more of a challenge.
The Autavia watch was designed by Jack Heuer, and it was known by its rotating bezel, its large snailed counters, and the legibility (and good looks) of its black and white dial. Form followed function, but man was that form cool. The look was directly inspired by the first dashboard counter made for racing cars and airplanes, which was also designed by Jack Heuer. He made the Autavia dash counter in 1933, and then, almost thirty years later, he designed the Autavia wrist sports chronograph. TAG Heuer had the watch in its catalogue for more than twenty years, and it became one of the most sought-after timepieces for collectors. It was worn by the great F1 drivers of two decades — men like Jo Siffert, Mario Andretti, and Jochen Rindt, among many others.
Jack Heuer designed the original Autavia. Even today, the resemblance to dashboard instruments can be seen.
“…when the difference between winning and losing can be a fraction of a second.”
“…once you’re off the roads and on the track, speed limits to the motor sports world are less of a restriction and more of a challenge.”
Then, last year, TAG Heuer held an unusual collaborative campaign online. The aim was to consult with fans and collectors, to ask them which of the 16 first-generation 1960s Autavia they would like to see as the model for the rebirth of this historic timepiece. In the end, they voted for the “Rindt.” This was the Autavia Ref. 2446 Mark 3, the design from 1966 that was named after Formula 1 Champion Jochen Rindt.
The “Rindt” madel was thus the winner of this online competition, charmingly called the Autavia Cup. (Even when Rindt ISN’T in the driver’s seat, he’s winning. He must be tickled pink about this.) Thus, the reborn TAG Heuer Autavia will bear the marks of this champion.
There are some updates, naturally. This isn’t just a nostalgia trip; TAG Heuer is remaking the Autavia for the 21st Century, which means not only incorporating the current state-of-the-art technology, but also adapting the timepiece for modern bodies (and prevailing preferences.) The new TAG Heuer Autavia will be 42mm in diameter, up from its predecessor at 39mm. It has a 12-hour graduated bezel, and is powered by the proprietary chronograph movement, the Heuer-02.
The functions are measured by the needs of a modern watch-wearer, and who knows? A future race champion? The new Autavia is an automatic-winding chronograph with a power reserve of 80 hours. It’s water resistant to 100 meters. Apart from the time and chronograph functions, which you would expect from any kind of racing-related timepiece, there’s a date window at 6 o’clock.
But there is much there that ties the new Autavia to the old, as well. The proportions of the watch, the typography, the counter finishes, the great legibility, that beautiful rotating bezel. And the strap, too, has echoes of the past. It’s a choice between a distressed brown calfskin-leather strap, or a 7-row steel bracelet in the “beads of rice” style.
